The train leaves Spoleto and moves northwards
with views on the sources of the Clitumnus, a small stream celebrated by Virgil in his Georgicae, a poem
dedicated to the pleasures of a rural lifestyle:

hinc albi, Clitumne, greges et maxima taurus

hence thy white flocks, Clitumnus, and the lordly victim bull,

victima, saepe tuo perfusus flumine sacro,

often bathed in thy holy stream,

Romanos ad templa deorum duxere triumphos.

lead on Roman triumphs to the gods' temples.

(Geor. 2. 146-48 - Translated by J. W. MacKail)Virgil envisaged that the oxen which were traditionally sacrificed (suovetaurilia) during a Roman triumph
were bred in the meadows near the Clitumnus. The countryside landscape celebrated by
Virgil has not lost its evocative power.

View of Trevi

A few miles north of the Clitumnus the conical hill of Trevi retains the appearance which made
many Romantic travellers compare its sight with that of the tower of Babel
portrayed in Brueghel's paintings (see an external link with many images of the tower). Trevi is surrounded by olive groves and its low medieval
walls still mark the limit of the town.

En route to Trevi: (left) a rural church and (right) Porta del Bruscito

A winding modern road links the railway station with the top of the town,
but accessing Trevi by the old way is much more evocative: the walls were built in the XIIIth century in a period of economic growth which saw the expansion of
the town from the very top of the hill (where the ancient Roman Trebiae was located) to its lower part.

The reference to the Tower of Babel was not justified only by Trevi having a conical appearance, but also by the spiralling street which leads to
the top of the town: Portico del Mostaccio was one of the gates of the ancient town.

Palaces of the Valenti family: (left) entrance to Palazzetto alla Piaggia which was decorated with the pills of the Medici family to commemorate a visit of Pope Clemens VII Medici;
(centre) entrance to Palazzo Valenti a S. Francesco: (right) Palazzo Valenti alla Rocca

The Valenti family played an important role in the history of Trevi; several palaces are named after them: two members of the family were appointed cardinals.

(left) House decorated with a 1512 graffito portraying three goddesses in Via Zappelli, near the Town Hall; (centre) 1415 fresco in Via Cavour; (right) sacred image in Via Natalucci near Porta del Cieco

Wandering through the narrow streets of Trevi leads to discovering some interesting paintings of various periods, including a typical Renaissance
graffiti decoration.

(left) Palazzo Approvati; (right) S. Francesco: detail of the portal

The rich countryside around Trevi has always provided some wealth to the town: so there are both Renaissance palaces and richly decorated
medieval churches.

S. Emiliano

Trevi cathedral is located at the top of the hill on the site of a Roman temple dedicated to Diana and more exactly to
Diana Trivia, patroness of trivia, a place where three roads meet.
The name of the town derives from that of the goddess; the original medieval church was modified several times and its orientation was changed:
the apse is part of the XIIth century building, while the portal is a XVth century work.
Umbria and especially the part near the Apennines is a seismic region and the cathedral was damaged by various earthquakes; the most recent one occurred in 1997
and it severely hit nearby Foligno, while Trevi suffered lesser damage.

Views of the Town Hall and the only "Fontana di Trevi"

The Town Hall is another building which the inhabitants of Trevi had to repair
several times, in particular after a 1703 earthquake,
so the current palace is a mixture of different styles,
while the strongly built tower is basically that erected in the XIIIth century.
Fontana di Trevi is one of the Roman "must see", but Trevi has very
little to offer from this point of view, the only historical fountain being a
rather modest XVIIIth century work made by assembling some medieval elements.
The official name of the town is Trevi nell'Umbria to distinguish it
from Trevi nel Lazio, a very small town near Subiaco.

View of Monte Subasio from Trevi: in the valley Foligno and beyond it (on the left) Spello and Assisi